The eclipse doesn't last forever
by KSC
Summary: Bella is hurt when edward leaves. But she has her personal sun to keep her warm. Will he be enough to help her through her pain AND keep her around long enough for her to realise that she loves him too. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all, this is my first twilight fic, and second fan fiction ever. So please enjoy. Constructive criticism is welcome along with your reviews! This isn't one of those fics where Bella just hops in bed with Jacob, but...well you know. Rated M for later chapters, R& might find that I quote quite a bit of things from new moon as well, but don't worry, after the story is where it needs to be; it will bloom into my .

Oh and P.S. I'm a newbie and need a beta, if anybody is interested PM me.

I don't own anything, only the things I may add in or create.

Chapter One

The pain was almost ebbed away by now; the only thing left was the sting of his words and the numbness of rejection. It has been several months now and I was on the verge of giving up. It was like a piece of me was torn away. I couldn't understand why it hurt as much as it did. I mean couples broke up all the time and moved on at my age. I just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that he had moved on and I was stuck in the same spot feeling the pain of his words on a daily basis. It was sickening to me how pathetic I must seem. Charlie was the worst, always sending me worried looks and asking if I was ok or if I needed anything, I guess he didn't like having a zombie as a daughter. Of course I knew that I would have to crawl out of my pit of self loathing and pity sooner than later, but it was hard to think about facing the world that passed me by without a backward glance, leaving me broken on the cold forest floor. I shivered at the memory.

However Charlie was threatening to ship me off to phoenix to live with René and Phil if I didn't start to make an effort of pulling my life together. After his painful yet undeniably true outburst about Edward he insists that I move. Yet I convinced him for my schooling purposes it was best that I stay here for my last semester. What he didn't know is that I wanted to stay here for the last and only connection to _him, _only thing that helped prove it wasn't all just a dream_._ Charlie was genuinely worried for me like any father would be and he wore it on his face in plain sight. I would have to start to make an effort, for Charlie I would. I slipped downstairs to make breakfast for him and smirked as I thought of how surprised he would be. I pulled out the bacon and slipped into the pan with a sizzle as I looked around the rest of the kitchen. The dishes were starting to pile up and the floor was sticky with something that looked like syrup. _How did Charlie live before I showed up?_ I had to laugh at the thought. He was such a bachelor in so many ways. I sighed as I cracked a couple eggs into another pan and started on the soon to be mammoth pile of dishes, as I scrubbed a random thought came into mind, _He told me to be happy and live as a human._ At least if I was a vampire I wouldn't have to do dishes anymore, I scrubbed to dishes harder as I shook my head and banished the thoughts.

"Wow bells, it smells really good in here!" I jumped up and with a yelp; I dropped a plate on my foot. I couldn't help but glare at Charlie and his surprised look. He rushed over and picked up the plate and set it back into the sink.

"Sorry, it's just I haven't seen you cook breakfast in a couple months let alone see you up this early on a school day, just surprised me is all" he said with a sheepish look while he rubbed his head. I felt that slightly warm feeling again but brushed it aside.

"Well you set the table and I will finish up with the food" He grumbled something under his breath about being bossy. We sat and ate in relative silence, mostly because we were both stuffing our faces. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until I took the first bite of savoury bacon. After we ate our fill I started up with the dishes again to make sure that they wouldn't start to pile up again. "Hey bells I'm off to work, I will see you later ok" I just nodded and finished up in the kitchen. I still had about an hour to get ready for school. I walked into the bathroom with a fresh set of clothes and looked into the mirror. I am a mess, I've gotten pretty thin and I have dark circles, my hair looks like a birds nest and I had a serious smell about me.

It was nice to have Charlie off my back. After i went to the movies with Jessica I have been forcing smiles on my face constantly, getting up early and even up keeping my appearances. It was hard. Especially after the incident after the theatre. I heard his voice. I was freaked at first, I didn't know what to think; however after the shock wore off I craved more. I needed to hear him again, but I didn't know how to go about it. I needed to get out of the house so I grabbed my truck keys. After driving around for awhile I started back towards home, the empty space where the CD player used to be seemed to stick out like a sore thumb and it was making me sick to think about it. Edward took it with him. _It would be as if I never existed._ I hated this, I hated thinking about him because it hurt so much, but how could I stop? I don't think I ever could. My thoughts were drowned out for a moment while my truck roared up a hill and I thanked my old truck for the distraction. I looked out the window at the misting rain and noticed a sign. **Bikes for Sale.** My truck sputtered to a stop, seemingly exhausted by the hill and I hopped out. The sign was posted up in front of the Markses residence. The bikes carelessly strewn on the lawn forgotten near the curb seemed to remind me of myself. I almost laughed at my own pity. I trudged forward and knocked on the door.

With the bikes in the back of my truck, I pulled out my cell phone and dialled the non emergency phone number for the police station. "Chief Swan please". I said when the deputy answered. Charlie picked up the phone. "Hey bells are you ok?" he said. "Uh yeah, I just wanted to ask you for the direction to the blacks place. I wanted to visit Jacob" His voice seemed happier. "That's a great idea bells." His directions were straight forward, which I silently thanked him for.

The blacks' residence was a small wooden house with narrow windows, the paint was peeling in most places and it sort of resembled a small barn. I could see Jacobs face in the window; looks like my truck gave me away. Before I could even step out of my truck I felt strong arms wrap around me and swing me around. "Bella!" He had a big smile which let his brilliant white teeth contrast against his russet coloured skin. His face was sweet like I remembered it, but his body had outgrown the boyish muscles and made way for his more lanky build. He was devastatingly handsome with his curtain of inky black hair, high cheek bones and square defined face "Hey Jacob!" I surprised myself by smiling and really meaning it. "Wow, when are you going to stop growing?" He smile stretched even further as he puffed out his chest slightly. "6'5 and still growing" He proudly announced. I hadn't realised how much I missed him until I saw his warming smile. The rain started to pour and rivets of water poured down my face. He looked at me and grinned "Let's get you inside, you're getting soaked." He led the way while tying his hair up. We walked into the small house and warmth flooded me from the heater beside the door. Billy wheeled closer. "Hey dad, look what the cat dragged in" he pointed at me with his thumb with that lop sided grin. Billy beamed. "Hey there Bella, how have you been these days?" I felt at ease here, and I had a slight feeling of nostalgia. "I have been ok" I replied. He looked at me reprovingly making it seem like he knew something that I didn't...Charlie. _He gossips like an old lady that man._ I forced out a smile.

"So Bella, what'cha wanna to do?" Jacobs's deep voice interjected, cutting the building silence. I very well couldn't tell Jacob about the motorbikes in front of Billy. "I don't know. Whatever..." He seemed to think for a moment. "Well I was just about to go out and work on my car, but we can just watch some TV while I fix us up some snacks?" Perfect. "Uh no, let's go work on your car. I'm not that hungry anyways." He looked at me trying to determine something, but he gave up and shrugged. "Alright, it's out back in the garage". I gave myself a mental high-five and followed him out nodding to Billy on the way, who invited me to dinner in the near future.

He showed me his car, a 1986 Rabbit. "What's wrong with it?" I asked lamely. He mumbled something about the head gasket and muffler as he fiddled with a wrench, but brightened up right after. "She'll be done real soon; I've been working on her for three months now." He clucked the tool down. I thought about my old truck, then the bikes in the truck bed. "Hey what do you know about Motorcycles?" I asked.

"I know a little bit, my friend has one and we work on it on occasion, why?" I twisted my fingers into a knot and pursed my lips. I couldn't very well say that I grabbed a couple bike to put my life at risk just the hear Edwards voice. "Well I just grabbed a couple of bikes and well...they are not in the greatest shape. I mean I could pay you for the work." I rushed out the last part. The guilt for using Jacob was starting to make me nauseous. He blinked and looked at me surprised. "Didn't make you out to be the type to mess with a bike. But... I like the challenge, so I'll try." He wouldn't let me pay and seemed offended of the idea so I traded him one of the bikes for his work and 'lessons'. After I made a comment on his birthday he narrowed his eyes teasingly. "Gee Bella you missed it, but it's ok `cause I missed yours too. Uhh what are you like 40?" I snorted. It felt that way, I never went out anymore, and all I did was sleep and think of the past. He laughed "yeah well we can have some sort of party to make up for it all."

"Sounds like a date." I mumbled. His eyes sparkled and I cursed my own thoughtfulness. But I smiled despite my guilt because a light feeling lingered. A change in subject was needed immediately so I brought up the bikes. "Hey um I hate to sound like a nag. But the bikes are kind of in my truck right now..." he seemed not to mind and he smiled and nodded. "But let's not let Billy see, he tends to gossip with my dad from the looks of it" I said. He laughed. "Yeah they do, just like old ladies! But we can be sneaky..." He said it with a wink and grinned. I felt even lighter, I relished in it. I haven't felt good in such a long time. "It's funny; I was thinking the exact same thing earlier." We started to walk out on to the gravel driveway to grab my truck to bring it around closer to the garage. He said something about great minds think alike, but I wasn't paying attention anymore. I was watching him heft the heavy bikes out of the truck bed with ease. They seemed much heavier when me and the Markes` boy did it. He pushed the bikes into the garage and examined them. He pointed to the one on the left and commented. "This one will be worth some decent money after I'm done with it. It's an old Harley." I looked at. I didn't really care which one I got. Not like I was doing this for fun anyways. "Well you can have that one." He peered at me from the other side of the wheel of the bike that was supposed to be mine. "Are you sure bells?" I nodded. He frowned slightly. "These are going to take some money for the parts; we will have to wait a bit until we get enough cash to buy the parts."

"No Jake, since you're doing this for free I can buy the parts, I have some collage funds that I can take some out of." I would do anything to hear that silken voice again. He looked reluctant but nodded. Thank the gods for Jacob and his Y chromosome based skills.

The bikes were lying on the garage floor and Jacob was fiddling with the red one which was meant for me, he already went over the Harley and deemed with a grimace that the parts would cost possibly more than a hundred dollars for both bikes. I took out my check book and fanned myself trying to look like a high roller "it shouldn't be a problem...I'm ballin". He looked at me and chuckled. "Gee bells you're _so_ gangster". I rolled my eyes and surprised myself at how easy it was to smile around him without forcing it. Our conversation was mostly one sided but I was actually interested in what he had to say and he didn't seem to mind too much.

"Jake?" a voice called from outside. Two tall quilette boys shuffled into the increasingly small garage and greeted Jacob. The seemingly obnoxious one was shorter than the other boy but had a muscular stocky build and had a buzz cut. The other was about the same height as Jacob with shoulder length black hair and he seemed slightly shy. They stopped and stared at me openly. "Who's the babe?" asked the short one, I couldn't stop the blush from rising to my cheeks. Jacobs's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "Bella, this is Quil and Embry, my two good friends." The short one stepped towards me with a hand outstretched, I grabbed it "Hey, I'm Quil your next ex boyfriend." Both of the other boys slapped him in the head but he only laughed and put his hand up in a surrendering motion. "Hey man, I was just messing with her!" next the shy one stepped over and gave a small smile. "As I'm sure you can guess already, I'm Embry Call" I nodded and shook his hand but withdrew quickly then glanced at Jacob, he looked slightly annoyed at the intrusion of Quil and Embry. "Hey Jacob I have to go, Charlie will starve without me making him dinner." I giggled and almost pinched myself at my disbelief of the ease of it all. He looked down at me slightly disappoint but nodded all the same. "Alright bells. When do you think you will be by next?" I thought about this for a moment. "Well I will be here after school tomorrow." He only smiled while Quil gave him thumbs up and patted him on the back. I shook my head as I left.

Tell me what you think. It was a pretty straightforward chapter. I needed to start and build the plot as close the actual book as possible. But like I said it will bloom into something all me soon. Your reviews are my motivation! R&R! 3


	2. Chapter 2

Hello all. Hope you are ready for another chapter. I've been busy with my daughter so it's been kind of hard to write (coming up to those terrible twos). But I'm doing my best for my awesome readers! (If I have any?) At any rate Enjoy.

Oh yeah. I don't own anything.

Chapter Two

My nightmare last night was terrible, it was on my mind constantly during the day and it reflected in my school work and concentration. The numbing feeling didn't return like it usually did. It hadn't while I slept or woke up, which wasn't really a good thing, because when you're numb the pain doesn't hurt as much. Like when you go to a dentist and they freeze your mouth to drill and rip things out ('for_ your own good') _it doesn't hurt until after the numbness fades away. But it is something I couldn't really help. Why wasn't I feeling numb anymore? I mean sure, I'm still depressed and undeniably sad; broken even. But I wasn't numb anymore and I was certain it had something to do with Jacob. This made me slightly more eager to see his sunny smile, then for a short period of time; brush away the heartbreak.

After school I headed to Jacobs place. The rain still splattered on my trucks windshield in a forks like manner but it didn't bother to me. I had a funny bubbly feeling in my chest that wouldn't go away from the moment the last bell rung at school to now; driving down the bumpy gravel road in La Push. Today Jacob and I would scout for bike parts; first we would go to the dump, then to some auto shop. I pulled up at his house and noticed he was again waiting for me at the front door with Billy, who I noted was ready to go. Jacob wheeled Billy down the makeshift plywood ramp and grinned at me while he made his way over.

"Bella! Hey I'm just going down the block to help out with my dad for a sec. If you want you can wait inside until I get back". Jacob said.

I nodded curtly feeling slightly strange for him to trust me so openly in his empty home but slightly glad all the same. Once I said my quick hellos and goodbyes to Billy I headed into Jacobs house, I sat on a worn out arm chair in the living room that had a faded floral pattern on it at one time in its prime, but was now a shadow of its former beauty. In fact in entire home seemed slightly faded from years of use and abuse from Jacob no doubt and his sisters. It was a small house, sparsely furnished but tidy enough with a quaint homely feel to it. It was simple and nice.

I heard a floor board groan under the weight of somebody and quickly looked up. It was Jacob of course. His grey t-shirt was wet from his shoulders to just beneath his chest in a 'V' shaped fashion. He grinned and moved to the couch "Good call on getting my dad to meet up with Charlie" It made it easier to do things... less sneaking around. "Yeah no problem. Made it easier for us I guess" I mumbled. Jacob walked off to the short hallway and whipped into a room on the right. He emerged a moment later dressed in a different shirt and a pair of old jeans with grease stains on them. I assumed they were his 'working' jeans. "Well we should go find some parts. I was thinking of going to the junk yard first to see if they have anything we might need. They always have things for cheaper there. I know you're a baller and all but I bet you wouldn't mind saving fifty bucks or so if we are lucky". I blushed at his 'baller' comment and he chuckled, he loved to tease me. "Yeah sure, whatever we need to do to get this bikes going." I replied as I took out my keys and headed for my ancient red truck.

"What made you grab these bikes for anyways?" he asked with a genuinely curious look. I slipped into the driver's seat and grimaced. I wanted to say '_so I can dive as recklessly as possible and endanger my life so I can hear Edwards voice for as long as possible' _but somehow I doubt he would have appreciated it much so I just gave a lame excuse "I haven't had an opportunity to do anything fun lately, so I figured when I saw these bikes I could change that." I couldn't see his face to gauge his reaction because the roads were slippery and I didn't want to kill Jacob along with me so I kept my eyes on the slick black asphalt. The conversation flowed with ease and it only took a prod here and there to keep it going, he had lots of stories to tell about life around La Push and his two good friends; Quil and Embry.

A junk yard and an auto shop later, we were both a bit muddy and had all the parts we would need for the bikes. Jacobs held up the grease incrusted metal parts and grinned. "This is great Bells; we have it all for way under our hundred and fifty dollar budget! I should have these bad boys running soon." A part of me wanted him to take his time so we could hang out and I could have those short moments of something akin to happiness. And the other part wanted for him to work night and day to finish so I could hear that voice sooner. I sounded ridiculous I know, but I couldn't bring myself to care about how selfish I was being.

"Sounds great Jake. Now what is that thingy mo bobber?" I asked trying to start up another conversation which thrilled me to no end seeing as I usually had to be forced into any kind of social banter. "Oh this?" He held up a thick spiral of rubber coated wire. I nodded. "Oh it's just for the suspension for your bike. It's a bit messed up, kind of looks like they crashed it so I think I should just replace it." Somebody crashed the bike huh? Sounds like my bike was in for a rough ride yet.

I was about to comment on the fact that he had a small but noticeable grease stain smudged on his cheek when a deep voice that could only be Charlie called out. "Bella, you in there?" The horrified look on my face must have been comical or something because Jacob just laughed. "Uh yeah dad, we will be right out!" I yelled out to him. Jake covered the bikes with a beige canvas blanket and switched off the lights. I was blind, and being clumsy and blind was one of the worst combinations. I stumbled over one of the bikes but was caught by Jake, my heart thumped in my chest as he steadied me on my feet but didn't let go of my hand as we both made our way through the darkness to greet our fathers. When Charlie saw our fingers intertwined his lips twitched upwards and I snatched my hand back as if burned. I glanced at Jacob to see if he was offended but he just smiled a said hello to Charlie, seemingly never fazed. Billy invited us inside and we ate his 'family' recipe spaghetti for dinner, it was just ragu...but it was good.

The next day at school was troublesome. I was safe in my catatonic bubble after Edward left. People stopped noticing me and eventually even my friends slipped past me most time without noticing me. I had tried talking to Jessica but she looked at me miffed and muttered a forced hello then turned away as quickly as possible. Lunch came around and my usual table _where the Cullen's used to sit _was taken so I sat at the table with everyone else. They didn't seem to notice me after all, even when I was sitting with them, this was silly. I was about to get up and leave until I hears Lauren say something about Ben to Angela. She looked down slightly sullen and replied in her calm voice. "He has some sort of stomach bug we think, he was pretty sick last night" Jessica butted in. "What did you guys do this weekend?" She looked up and sighed "Well we were going to go for a picnic but we saw something..." everyone zoned in on her and she didn't seem to enjoy the attention. "Well what did you see?" Lauren asked.

"Well it was really big, kind of thought it was a grizzly or something but it looked more like a wolf, a really big one." As soon as she said it random comments on how it seemed unlikely popped around the table from various people. Angela looked embarrassed and I glanced at Lauren who was snickering. What a bitch.

"Actually we had a hiker in at the shop the other day and he said he saw something similar. Like a bear but not, right mike?" Looks like the scrutiny were focused on me now; the look from mike was of pure shock. Surely it wasn't that shocking for me to be talking to them? The look from Katie, the red head who lived around the block from me told me otherwise.

Mike snapped out of it quickly "Uh yeah, he said something like that, he isn't the first either; we have had a couple sightings in fact". I could see Angela smile at me and I returned it immediately without thought. But now that the focus was on me so was the conversation.

"So Bella what did you do this weekend?" mike asked trying not to look interested. "Uh I just hung out down at La Push for the weekend with a friend." Jessica looked at me again as if daring me to tell everyone I went to movies with her last weekend. I didn't bother. She was probably embarrassed about it anyways. After to conversation around the table lost it focus on me and turned to the bear thing topic and how likely it seemed, Mike moved in; he wasn't as willing to let me slip under the radar as the others. He talked my ear up until the bell rang and we all got up to leave. Angela pulled on my sleeve lightly to stop me. She was smiling and thanked me for 'standing' up for her. I could only smile back and tell her no problem, and it wasn't.

I drove past the entrance to the Cullen's driveway just to take a peak, like a kid trying to catch a glimpse of the TV while sneaking to the bathroom when it was time for bed. Not like I was expecting to see Alice with her elegant features and pixie like hair cut waving and bouncing around. But I couldn't even force myself to drive up the winding path of forest encompassed road. It was taboo for me to do so. So I took another detour and headed to La push. With Jacob I felt somewhat healthy and I needed that right now I needed that sunny smile to warm me up and make me feel human again. How did I become so dependent on Jacob in such a short time? I had no idea, but it was a force that couldn't be stopped. I was drawn to La Push and Jacob like a magnet to a big thick piece of steel. I was a retched person, using Jacob to hear Edwards voice, it had been a simple idea at first, but things are getting more complicated as he was quickly becoming someone vary dear to me; in a strictly platonic sense anyways. My truck grinded to halt outside Jacobs house and I heard the one thing I have been craving since the day began. Jacobs voice. "Yo Bella, what's poppin homie?" He was teasing me again regarding my baller comment. I groaned and waved at Billy who was watching our exchange from the window with amusement.

"Well come on, let's get to work" he said with his lop sided grin, probably proud of his little jib at me. We went into the garage and he uncovered the bikes. The red one was standing sporting the new suspension and had been buffed and polished making it look like a motorbike worth riding.

"Wow Jake your awesome!" I smiled at him.

He didn't smile though, he mumbled something about being crazy for not taking his time but i couldn't clearly hear him. "Say Bella, You think that after the bikes are done you will still want to come around?" He wasn't looking at me but was instead very interested in some small greasy bolt. This shocked me, i hadn't even thought about it before. "Yeah of course I will Jake, until your right sick of me." He breathed out and dropped the bolt onto the plastic working space on the garage floor. "but it's just to see Quil isn't it?" he asked with a small smirk. I picked up the bolt he dropped at chucked it at him lightly, but he was quick and dodged it without effort.

"Well since we will being hanging out all the time I'm afraid we can't always be working on the bikes, like we have to do homework once in awhile. I'm getting really far behind on my work and I just can't imagine what you pile is looking like!" he visibly cringed and I nodded knowing I hit the spot. "We will do our homework twice a week...deal?" He pulled out some soda and made a toast to responsibility. I wanted to laugh at the fact but i didn't. I held up my can of warm soda and said "And the rest to being reckless!" we clunked our cans together then we drank our warm sodas and continued work on the bikes until I left.

At school the next day was tiring. Mike and Angela accepted me back into the school social scene without a second thought. Not everyone was as eager, not that I expected them to be after months of me ignoring everyone. Mike just wouldn't stop talking. It was like he was trying to make up for all the lost time from when I was in zombie land and i didn't really care about what he was saying until he asked me out to a movie.

"Uh sorry mike, I don't date." It wasn't untrue. He tried to convince me with avail and he gave up with a slightly sour look on his face.

A couple days later I was sitting at home and waiting for Jacobs's phone call. He seemed excited at dinner last night and I wondered why. As if on cue the house phone let out its shrill ring, i hopped up out of the chair i was occupying and picked up the wailing phone. "Hello?" I asked. "Hey bella, uh I was thinking you should come here for you know... our date" the word date had a double meaning and I smiled. "They are done?"

"Yup!" He told me to come over as soon as possible and he didn't have to tell me twice.

Alright peeps. Hoped you like that one. Another is too come very soon!

R&R 3


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